


But What Would You Do?

by MaldaineD



Series: Winter Break:  A Danny Phantom Story [3]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 19:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20452646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaldaineD/pseuds/MaldaineD
Summary: A week before Halloween, Dash asks a rather big question a little too nonchalantly, and Danny starts to question why he'd do such a thing.  Dash is aware that Halloween is often a stressful time for Danny and his family, so he doesn't quite understand Dash's intentions.  Halloween night, things escalate, and a simple theft by the Box Ghost leads the entire family on a chase that ends in a tangled mess.





	But What Would You Do?

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Halloween isn't during winter break (and as of posting this, it's not even September), but I wanted to get the idea down and out there, and I wanted to finish off my Winter Break series with something action-packed and cute. I hope you enjoy the thrilling conclusion to my little trio of tales. Also, sorry for any weird formatting. Ao3 was really not working with me today!

“But what would you do?” Dash asked as he got back into the bed after a rather long time in the restroom, his question from before the trip unanswered.

“I don’t know, Dash,” Danny said, a quick look to the left.

“You don’t know?”

“No. At least, I...why are you asking?”

“Maybe I just wanted to see you flustered,” Dash replied as he rolled over, the clock saying it was about two in the morning. He turned the alarm off.

Danny didn’t understand, but at the same time, he didn’t hate that his instinct was to say ‘yes.’ Did that matter if something made him hesitate?

~~

Maybe it was because they rounded the time when they reconnected, winter just around the corner. Or maybe it was because it had been nearly a year, the relationship working well, and with Halloween coming to remind him of one of the most chaotic days every single year, his mind wasn’t exactly focused on his relationship fostering? His thoughts moved too quickly, and with all the ifs, ands, and ors, the vortex of self-doubt just continued.

Danny couldn’t sleep. Plain and simple.

He went through the bed, the floor, the sitting room, into the kitchen. He could be quiet, even if it left a cold trail behind him. Opening the fridge, he pulled the carton of orange juice out and drank directly from the container. Dash had given him permission, something he liked to do in secret at home, but when he was caught, often he was scolded by the rest of his family. Permission might have been the wrong word. He felt like he was able to do it here, that there was privilege here that wasn’t afforded other places. Danny wiped some of the juice from his upper lip and place the carton from where it was taken. Dash wouldn’t be the wiser, even if he didn’t mind.

On any given weekend, he found himself here. It was a townhouse, three stories, each comprised of one main room and a small offshoot, skinny but cozy, homey but well maintained. Danny always pictured Dash to be someone that left his clothes around, glasses and utensils placed here and there, but that wasn’t the case. Everything was in order, chairs arranged perfectly, and dust wiped clean. Danny didn’t know if this was how it always was, or if when Dash heard that he was coming he would clean. Still, he liked that almost a year in he was still surprised by things, even habits he’d grown accustomed to. The thought made him smile.

Sitting on the couch, Danny took a moment to ponder the question Dash had asked only a little bit ago. Even if it was in jest, it was an odd question to ask without follow-up. 

Would he marry Dash?

He let out a sigh, looked through the darkness, and waited for some answer to slap him in the face. He leaned so closely to yes when first asked, but he felt like he’d hurt Dash’s feelings when he said he didn’t know. The truth was, it shocked him, and he couldn’t answer...didn’t know for sure. At least he’d told the truth. Danny took a moment to appreciate that. He didn’t want to get Dash’s hopes up for something that wasn’t quite ready yet, or wasn’t understood. A year wasn’t that long, and it hadn’t even been a full year. It had only been about ten months. It wasn’t unheard of for people to be engaged that quickly, but he’d always just assumed he needed to get to know someone for a while before saying yes. At the very least, the answer should have been emphatic. Right? At least that’s what Danny kept telling himself.

There was so much happening, too. Dash was busy keeping his head above water in medical school, and Danny was working hard at his Chemistry PhD. Hell, Dash could barely afford the townhouse he was in, and the debt they were incurring was pretty substantial. At least Danny’s stipend was enough to sustain parts of his life, but until Dash started a residency, it wasn’t like there was a heavy cash flow happening. Was this something that either of them needed right now?

Dash told Danny that he wanted to be with him for Halloween this year, especially since it was such a trying time for the living world, so many ghosts trying to take over all at the same time. Danny rebuffed him because it was too dangerous for him to be involved. Dash was still new to the ‘family business,’ and it wasn’t his responsibility to handle the situation. Honestly, Danny didn’t even want Tucker and Sam to help this year, their friendship still recovering from their years in undergrad, but at least he knew that they could handle themselves. Dash had only helped with one or two situations in their ten months together, and Danny didn’t want to risk it.

To be fair, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Dash was willing to even offer. Dash wasn’t exactly hurt when he was told no, but Danny did offer for Dash to stay at his parents’ house for the weekend, to be there for Danny when he got back from the inevitable campaign against the hungry forces of the damned. He gave Danny a strong nod and told him so long as he could be there for Danny in some shape or form.

Dash was so sure. Had he been serious when he asked the question?

Danny shooed it away. If he’d been serious, Dash would have done it a different way. Surely...surely he would have done it a different way.

~~

Dash’s knee bounced ferociously. His fingers tapped the side of the plastic cup. Eventually, he brought the cup to his mouth and took a big gulp of the iced coffee. The ice rattled around inside from how much his hands were shaking. Was his heart going to explode? It certainly felt like it, and that would make so many of his choices a lot easier, you know, being dead. How was it already Halloween? How were they already in Amity Park for the week? Why did holidays exist? It seemed, solely, to vex him, especially since he asked these questions every time he returned to Amity Park to be with Danny. He was establishing a pattern of self doubt in his hometown. He grimaced.

Sam and Tucker looked on, worried. Dash was making a lot of strange faces and not actually saying anything.

“Is this a mistake?” Dash asked.

“I don’t know because you haven’t told us anything,” Sam said.

“Yeah. We kind of need to be prepping for tonight. It’s almost impossible to tell how bad things are going to get,” Tucker said.

“How many iced coffees have you had?” Sam asked.

“What? Oh, this is my fourth,” Dash responded as he took another gulp.

Tucker and Sam suggested he slow down, but Dash refused. He wanted to jitter himself into a different plane of existence. He assumed that a fifth coffee would get him there, so he stood to order another. Tucker and Sam forced him back into his chair. They both had places to be, so they needed to know what he wanted to talk with them about.

“Well, Jazz isn’t here yet,” Dash relented.

“Can’t you just tell us, and then explain it to Jazz when she gets here?” Tucker asked.

Dash shook his head vigorously, and then he looked down at the table. He made himself dizzy.

“Sorry, I’m late, I know,” Jazz said as she pulled up a chair at the table with the other three. One look at Dash and she said, “Oh, I know what this is about.”

Dash’s attention snapped to her, his eyes wide and his hands tapping faster. The back of his neck was sweaty. That was normal....ish.

“Would you like to share it with us because Dash sure isn’t going to,” Sam pointed out.

Dash scowled at her, but it didn’t deter her from pressing Jazz a second time. Jazz, however, felt it important for Dash to speak up. She encouraged him, and when that didn’t work, she tried persuasion, and when that ultimately failed, she gave in and simply punched it out of him.

While rubbing his arm, “That wasn’t nice,” but Dash finally said, “I think I’m going to propose to Danny tonight.”

Jazz smiled while Tucker and Sam looked a little more than gobsmacked. Dash pulled a box from his pocket and opened it up. A small band with one green stone and one white stone inset shined in the track lighting overhead. 

“I’m freaking out because I casually asked him about a week ago, and he was really unsure. Like, scathingly unsure,” Dash lamented, the shaking continuing in full force.

“Wait, what do you mean you casually asked him about it?” Jazz asked.

“We were talking about the upcoming holidays, like, where we were going, what we were doing, and then I kind of just asked if he’d marry me. Hypothetically. Then he got all flustered, said he didn’t know, and when he thought I was asleep, he just left the room.”

“I’d say no if someone randomly asked me like that,” Sam said, “but who am I?”

“Maybe I blew it before I started.”

“Why ask him tonight, though?” Tucker asked. “I mean, of all the nights, this is a pretty stupid one to pick.”

Dash said, simply, that tonight was always explained as a difficult night that left Danny a bit battleworn and exhausted with the state of the two worlds. Dash wanted it to be tonight because he wanted Danny to have something to look forward to on the most difficult night of his life, every year. He plopped his head on the table. He’d only experienced strange happenings on Halloween on the periphery. This year he wanted to be in it, even if Danny was worried. The groan he made was loud enough to make everyone in the cafe look at their table.

“It’s lame, isn’t it?” Dash asked.

“Actually, that’s really sweet,” Sam said, a little surprised she said it at all.

“What if he just associates your engagement proposal with all the horrors of past Halloweens?” Tucker said.

He yelped when Jazz kicked him under the table. Her glare caused him to stare into his coffee cup for an extended period of time.

“How can we help, Dash?” Jazz asked as she gave his head a gentle pat.

“Kill me?” he replied under the table.

“Well, we usually get an early dinner around 4pm to prep for the long night. I know you’re invited to it, so why not do it there? It’ll be in front of all his friends and family, and it’ll be casual because we’re just going to the diner,” Jazz said.

Dash agreed that was the most logical choice, and it would raise Danny’s spirit for the rest of the night. That was completely dependent upon him saying yes. Would he say yes? Dash couldn’t go through with this.

“I’ll take that heart attack any time now,” he said, words swept under the table and heard only by sneakers.

~~

Danny sprawled on his bed reading a comic. The anxiety of the evening started to well up inside of him, yet he couldn’t help but admit that Halloween (while dreaded) always was exhilarating. Making it to the end, winning at any cost, it was something that anyone dreamed of when they had super powers. Some of that spark was fading though. Ghosts had come together to save the world all those years ago. Why did some still demand to rule the world? It seemed foolish.

What could be a time of celebration for the ghost world and the living world was always conflated with political drabble.

He flipped the page, and a groan escaped his lips. Sitting up, he realized that he couldn’t get over what Dash asked him a week ago. They hadn’t talked about it since, and honestly, given how rough last Halloween was, he was a little worried that if they didn’t talk about it they might not ever be able to figure it out.

“No,” Danny said. “You can’t think like that. Not this early, anyway.”

The anxiety had never been this bad before. Always jitters, but this was outright nervousness. Why? He’d had a lot to lose before, but now it was a little different. There was an unspoken understanding about Halloween in his family. It was dangerous, and it only got worse as it went along. Now he had unfinished business. There wasn’t just a baseline. There was something extra on his mind. This is why all the comics said that superheroes shouldn’t have significant others. 

“What if they use Dash against me,” he mused allowed, but he quickly shook his head and tried to throw the idea out. He had to be realistic though and admit it wouldn’t leave, probably so long as he remained in a relationship with Dash.

Not to mention that since their conversation, there was a little tension between the two of them. That was never a good sign, right? Danny just wanted to be honest, and he hoped that Dash would understand that. He’d stick by it, and Dash should have known better than to be so nonchalant about marriage. Well, it wasn’t actually a huge issue overall. It was just really emotional to bring up so casually.

“Why do I care about this so much?” Danny asked as he flopped back onto the bed.

Was it because he wished Dash had done it a different way? If he had, would Danny have actually said yes? 

His hands shaking a little bit, he decided to go downstairs and get a glass of water. Phasing through the floor and into the kitchen, he went to the cabinet and got a glass, a novelty one with his own image on it. He chuckled, his parents keeping them after all these years (a gift from the manufacturer). 

The house was quiet, everyone spending some time to themselves before the night took its inevitable turn. Dash said he needed to go out and take a little time to himself before he was cooped up in the Fenton home for the rest of the night. Danny could understand that, but he was feeling a little dejected. He would have preferred to have a quiet moment with Dash before the insanity of the night began.

Danny finished the glass of water feeling no better than when he started drinking it. Placing it in the dishwasher, he went to his bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked into the mirror as he took a deep breath, then out.

As he stared, Danny could finally pinpoint what it was, the irksome thing that was making him feel this way. He wasn’t nervous. Danny was mad. Had he been mad this whole time? He couldn’t place why, but he was. At dinner, he’d bring it up with Dash. He had to talk before he went out for Halloween. About what, well, that was to be determined, but he knew he had to talk to him about something, and for now, that was enough.

~~

“Stop fidgeting,” Jazz said as she put a hand over Dash’s.

“I can’t help it, I’m nervous. This is a bad idea,” he responded. 

The two were the only ones at the table so far, and Dash was on his second milkshake. His broad shoulders, hair slicked back, and the old letterman jacket he wore made him look like something out of a 60s daily. He claimed it was an incognito costume, but Jazz knew a part of him missed the roar he got from fans in highschool and college. 

When Dash ordered a third milkshake, Jazz assumed he really would have a heart attack with all the sugar and caffeine that he’d ingested, but she recognized that he was an adult and could make choices for himself. She halted every fiber of her being that told her to analyze and engage with him about what he was feeling. Dash needed to determine what to do for himself, especially about this. 

“What if he says no?” Dash asked.

“Would you like me to be honest, or do you want me to lie to you?”

Dash looked over at her. It was the first time his hands had stopped shaking the whole day.

“Full honesty...I’d be devastated if he didn’t want to,” Dash said.

“Would you stay with him?” Jazz asked. She felt a little guilty when the words came out, the fear being that he would say no. As much as Dash had grown over the years, and as much as she appreciated and loved the idea of him being with her brother, potentially marrying him, her allegiance certainly aligned with Danny more than it ever could with Dash. Obviously. She’d always been protective of her little brother, and now it was heightened even more than it had ever been. 

Dash didn’t hesitate when he replied, “Absolutely.”

Jazz let go of his hand. She knew she rooted for Dash for a reason. He’d ended up being a great guy despite his bullying past. 

Dash stood up quickly after and headed to the bathroom, his face green from the mix of liquids he’d drank through the day. Jazz couldn’t help but laugh and assume it was nerves more than anything, though surely the sugar and coffee didn’t help. 

While he was away, the rest of the group appeared. Jazz had already reserved two booths together so everyone could at least sit close. She couldn’t contain her smile knowing what was going to happen in an hour or less, but she certainly did her best at hiding it behind a menu or her hand. Constant glares from Sam and Tucker helped her notice that she’d started up being too obvious about it.

“Thanks for saving the tables, Princess,” Jack Fenton said as he sat down across from her, the entire booth jolting up as he did.

“Dad, I’ve asked you a hundred times not to call me that anymore,” Jazz said, her cheeks growing a little read.

Sam and Tucker gave a small snicker as Maddie Fenton said, “Just humor him dear. You know he does it because he loves you.”

Danny tried to sit next to Jack, but was scooched away.

“I want Dash to sit here. We hardly get to see him, so it’d be nice to hound him a little bit,” Jack said with a broad smile. Danny was unaware that Dash had asked Jack and Maddie for their blessing earlier in the day.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Danny said with a nervous laugh.

“Again, it’s probably best to humor him,” Maddie responded, “and I’ll make sure to keep him in line. Enjoy a little time with Sam and Tucker.”

“So long as you send Dash my way before we finish eating. I have something I need to talk to him about.”

“You do?” Sam, Tucker, and Jazz said at almost the same time with the same exact intonation. They proceeded to glare at each other.

“What’s going on with you guys?” Danny asked.

“What’s going on with you?” Dash asked as he put an arm around Danny’s shoulder.

Dash appearing from nowhere caused Danny to jump slightly, the pressure from his arm quickly releasing as Dash phased through Danny and caught himself on the table. Danny hadn’t lost control of his powers like that since he rounded out high school. He looked a little embarrassed.

“Dash, I’m so sorry, you just kind of scared me and I guess…” Danny’s words became more unsure as they went along. Was this some kind of sign?

“Hey, hey, it’s fine,” Dash said, though it was obvious he was embarrassed as well. “We’re all just feeling Halloween, yeah?”

“Sit down, my boy,” Jack said, giving Dash zero time to recover as he pulled him into the booth. “Danny’s going to sit with Sam and Tucker. We’re going to chat over dinner.”

Dash looked almost dazed, and Jazz tried her best to contain whatever it was Jack was doing, but there was little success. Even Maddie had trouble containing herself, so Jazz had to buckle down and work overtime on the controlling the parent’s excitement levels.

Danny sulked over to the table with Sam and Tucker and sat down. Both of them tried to ask him what was wrong, but low, under his breath, he said he couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong, or why he was feeling the way he was. He confided in them that he was feeling angry about something, but he didn’t know exactly what it was, or at least didn’t know why he was angry about it. He explained that Dash had proposed a rather serious question to him a week ago, but was quite flippant about it now.

Tucker and Sam did their best to hide that they were already aware of the conversation, and given Danny’s state, he seemed to believe their deception. 

Danny and Dash kept locking eyes as they ate and the tables conversed about various topics, most of them vapid as the suspecting parties waited for the moment to happen. Danny gave Dash a smile during a particularly long look, and Dash smiled broadly at him. It felt like there was so much distance between them in this moment, but even still, seeing him smile, it made Danny forget about the weird anger for a moment. Jack just kept talking to Dash, and Dash did his best to follow along, but he didn’t look away. 

A cool breeze suddenly filled the restaurant, and Danny’s breath showed, briefly, but put him on alert. Tucker and Sam took instant note and started to look around.

“Did anyone else feel that?” Jazz asked.

“Feel what?” Dash said.

“There was a ghost here, at least for a minute,” Danny said across the booth.

“They’re early,” Maddie said as she pulled a device from her pocket, a new, portable ghost defense system she’d been working on. She happily showed it off after revealing it and explained some of the finer details.

Sam finally pointed out the window, “There. It’s just the Box Ghost.”

The Box Ghost floated languidly across the diner’s parking lot and out towards the city.

“I’m taking it that the Box Ghost isn’t a huge worry?” Dash asked, only slightly familiar with some of the more common enemies of his boyfriend.

“Nah, he’s pretty lame,” Jazz said, and she suggested her mother put the new defense item away.

“It’s never bad to be ready,” Maddie returned.

“No! No, no, no!” Dash screamed as he dug ferociously through his pockets.

It was a sudden exclamation, and certainly enough to startle everyone at the tables.

“What? What is it?” Danny asked.

“It’s, um…. I’ve got to go,” Dash said as he started to run out the door.

Danny took a second to snap out of his confusion, but when he started to go after Dash, Jazz grabbed a hold of his hand and said, “Finish your meal. You need all the strength you can get. I’ll check on Dash.”

“But I really need to talk to him, and I want to make sure he’s okay!”

“I’ve got this, Danny,” Jazz scolded.

“Why is everyone acting so weird today?” Danny said.

Jazz didn’t answer as she grabbed her coat, the device from Maddie, and another bite of her sandwich before she rushed to leave.

~~

“Just give me the box back,” Dash screamed through labored breaths. He was glad he didn’t give up his workout routines when he started med school.

“No! The mean lady told me to take it,” the Box Ghost said.

“I don’t care what the mean lady said. I need the box!”

When Dash turned the corner after the Box Ghost, a car cut both of them off. The window rolled down, and Jazz fired a blast from the Fenton Thermos and caught the Box Ghost inside. The ring box that had been stolen dropped to the ground. 

“How’d you know where to find me?” Dash asked as he picked up the lost object.

“All our cars have ghost scanners in them,” Jazz said.

The scanner started to beep faster and faster. Jazz looked around, but didn’t see anything. They never started this early, but already there was another blip on the scanner, and another. Four ghosts were closing in on their position.

“Dash, get in the car!” she shouted, but to no avail.

As Dash moved forward, the box was knocked out of his hand by an invisible force. He ducked out of the way of a glowing blade as a Skulker appeared in front of him. Skulker smiled as he caught the parcel.

“Thanks for making it so easy, human. The Box Ghost is so good at following my directions.” Skulker said, the jet pack on his back expanded and he took off into the sky.

“What the hell?” Dash screamed.

Jazz got out of the car and opened the trunk. She pulled a device out and strapped it to her back.

“How good is your grip strength?” she asked.

“Pretty good, why?”

The pack erupted with it’s own wings, and she flew towards Dash and picked him up in the sky.

“You didn’t feel the need to explain what was going to happen?” Dash asked as they zipped through the air.

“If you want the ring back, we’ve got to play by their rules,” Jazz yelled back. “I will warn you, the Fenton Glider hasn’t actually been field tested yet, so I’m going to need you to write a review of features after this is all over.”

“It hasn’t been tested yet?”

~~

The blips on the Fenton Finder showed some activity, but most of it was erratic and far away. Danny landed after a few blocks of flying and looked through the streets. A few people waved to him, and trick or treaters were more than excited to see THE Danny Phantom in person. He did his best to greet them, sign a few things, and give a few encouraging words, but honestly, he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the ghost activity in town was low. The quiet was truly unnerving.

He pushed down on the communication device in his ear, two beeps before Jazz picked up.

“Hey baby brother. I’m a little busy, can I call you back?” she said, a bit out of breath.

“What’s going on?”

The sound of a Fenton Thermos blast rang through the comms device.

“Jazz?”

“Danny, I’m just trying to have a heart to heart with Dash about something. It’s okay, I promise we’re fine.”

“Are you fighting ghosts right now.”

A long silence, then, “I mean, we’ve encountered one or two.”

Danny heard Dash ask, “How many ghosts can fit in a thermos?”

“Wait, Dash is fighting ghosts with you? Where are you guys,” Danny said.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to call you back,” Jazz finally said as the comms cut out.

Worried, intensely, Danny waved goodbye to some of the kids and their parents and took off into the sky again. He funneled his ghost tracker to seek out the signal of Jazz’s comms, and it didn’t take long for the scanner to pick something up. He flew through the chilly night as quickly as he could.

~~

“We’re already in pursuit,” Sam said as she threw the Booo-merang at Technus.

Tucker took a wide swing with the Fenton Ghost Gloves on as the Booo-merang smashed into Technus’s head. The punch landed perfectly and knocked the ghost halfway across the street.

“I’ll never give it to you,” Technus screamed as Tucker picked him up.

“Now, Sam!”

Sam unleashed a wave from a Fenton Thermos and sealed Technus away. Tucker took the gloves off to pick up the ring box, but a blast of sonic energy blew him away and into Sam. The two skidded across the pavement.

“Damn it. Now we have to deal with Ember…” Sam said as she helped Tucker off.

“Why do they want the ring so badly?” Tucker asked.

Sam shrugged, and pulled him back as another wave of sonic energy blasted a hole in the ground in front of them.

Ember McClain picked the box up and started running the opposite way, volley after volley of energy strummed behind her. Sam and Tucker couldn’t do anything but head back to the newly remodelled Specter Speeder. They had another ghost to follow.

~~

“Blast ‘em, honey!” Jack shouted as Maddie fired multiple shots out the window of the Ghost Assault Vehicle. 

One shot, a direct hit, blasted Ember McClain off a building. The license plate of the GAV folded back, a massive Fenton containment device revealed behind it. A blast caught her before she could hit the ground, and Maddie jumped out of the car when she watched the ring box hit the ground and bounce a bit into an alley way.

“I got it,” Maddie said as she stooped down to pick it up. It slid from her fingers a second later as another ghost phased through her. It started to fly into the sky, but was quickly hit with the Jack o’Nine Tails, and the box fell into Jack’s palm.

“Nope, I got it,” he said.

“Oh, Jack,” Maddie said, a quick kiss on the cheek.

Pride got the better of them as the ring box was stolen yet again, tied around with yarn and ripped from Jack’s hand.

“Um, Maddie….”

“The ring is gone?”

“The ring is gone.”

“Back to the GAV!”

~~

“Is the ring magic? Did you buy it at some weird second hand shop?” Jazz asked as they ran through the trick or treaters. The box skipped along the ground tied up with a piece of yarn.

“No. I had it custom made. I had to take out a loan and everything. I don’t know why the ghosts want the damn ring, but it’s too expensive to make another one,” Dash said.

“Oh, at this point, we’re getting the damn ring back,” Jazz said. “I’ve fought too long and hard not to get it back.”

She dove, touched the box with her fingers, but it managed to slenk away. Dash kept charging forward, and when Jazz recovered, she ran after him.

“Have any of them said anything? The ghosts, I mean.”

“The Box Ghost said that the ‘mean lady’ told him to take it. Do you guys call some specter the ‘mean lady.’”

“Not that I can think of, and honestly, I’ve never seen one that uses yarn, either.”

The ring rolled into the central park, and Jazz nearly ran into Dash. He was planted staring into the wrought iron gates. Yarn wrapped around each bar, through the trees, and covered all of the grass. 

“Have you seen anything like this before?” Dash asked.

“Nope.”

“I’m going in there, and I know how stupid that is, but I’ve got to get that ring. I have to.”

“I’m right behind you.”

They started for the gates. Ghosts swirled and called from outside the park. Jazz gave her parents, Tucker, and Sam the warning, and they agreed to take care of the ghosts outside the park so long as Dash and Jazz handled what was inside.

~~

Danny landed in the middle of an obvious battlefield. He crouched to find a comms unit laying on the ground, but there was no sign that any of his family or friends were hurt. Certainly they took out a few ghosts though.

Things had been quiet on his end. He hadn’t fought a single ghost, and it was past ten. He’d called into multiple members of the squad, and all of them just told him they were busy and cut off. Were they all fighting and just not telling him? But that didn’t make much sense. He wanted to help. It was his job, self imposed, but still his job.

He double tapped the comms unit in his ear. A ring, and then Dash picked up.

“Hello? Is this how this works?” Dash said, a little loud.

“Dash? It’s Danny. Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Relatively. Hey, sorry that I’ve been weird all night. I feel like it’s last Christmas all over again, but trust me, I love you and I’m just trying to get something figured out.”

“The least you could do is let me help you figure it out,” Danny said.

“I know, I know, but I want it to be a surprise.”

Danny sat down. He just felt so frustrated by all of this. Dash was usually so open and honest, but this past week, it felt like another weird roadblock. A few tears formed, but he wiped them away. He didn’t know why he was so upset, why this problem kept coming back around, and then it came all at once.

“I’m mad at you,” Danny said.

“You are?” Dash asked, though it wasn’t exactly surprised.

“I am! You just randomly asked me if I’d marry you, and then didn’t do anything with it, and you acted like it didn’t even matter, but it did. It mattered to me. I want to talk to you about it for real, but it kind of felt like I couldn’t because it didn’t seem to be very pressing to you.”

There was a long silence, and Danny wiped a few tears off his cheek before asking, “Dash, are you there?”

“Danny, I’ve got to go,” Dash said.

“Don’t hang up on me.”

“I need to find that freaking ring,” Dash said.

“What are you talking about?” 

“A bunch of ghosts keep stealing the ring I was going to give you, and I’ve got to get it back. I’ve got to.”

“You mean…?”

“I just really wanted it to go well. I just really wanted you to have something good happen on Halloween, and damn it, so long as I’ve still got time, I’m going to make it work,” Dash said.

“Where are you?”

“Jazz and I are in the park, I think we found out what’s behind all this. Hell, maybe I can see you here?”

“I’m on my way,” Danny said, and he took off into the sky.

~~

The four Fenton Thermoses strapped to Dash’s chest were full. The three that Jazz had were also full, but above all, they were exhausted. The park had been filled to the brim with ghouls, but they battled on. Every step was greeted by coiling yarn, monsters weaved, and ghosts that swirled around a central figure.

Jazz had heard that even more ghosts had started to surround the park and attack anyone nearby, so Maddie, Jack, Tucker, and Sam fought valiantly outside the wrought iron gates while Jazz and Dash finally reached the source of the Halloween mayhem. A lone figure, giant, with yarn wrapped completely around the head. Near featureless, a wad of knotted yarn hovered near the creature’s chest, strands merged and twisted constantly, some were thick, others thin, and some even snapped from strain and tension.

“This is incredible,” Dash said. Sure, he’d experienced some things, but it was so passive before. He never chose to be there, never chose to fight like Tucker and Sam or the Fentons, at least, not really. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jazz said.

“Okay, not incredible anymore,” Dash said as his head snapped to look at her, “now it’s just scary. You mean you have no idea what’s happening?”

“I thought I made that pretty clear before walked into the park,” Jazz pointed out. "You seemed like you wanted to be heroic, but I knew it would really be dumb to let you come in here all by yourself.

"Thanks, Jazz."

Awestruck, they didn’t notice the yarn tether their feet before it was too late, Jazz and Dash propelled into the air, wrapped and tied, before being pulled closely to the creature with its face completely hidden.

“And what is it that enters my domain? What questions Fate herself?” a billowy voice echoed from all points.

Dash would have covered his ears if more than one of his hands was free, only his left spared from being coiled in the thick yarn.

“We just want Dash’s ring back,” Jazz said. “Also, isn’t Fate supposed to be three sisters? Where are the other two?”

“I ate them,” Fate said.

Jazz nodded very quickly and said, “If you say so.”

The creature leaned in, moving the ball of tangled yarn away as it did. Now it was only inches from Jazz’s face. Dash struggled and called for the creature’s attention, but it didn’t sway. Jazz just grinned despite her fear. She’d dealt with worse.

“What if the ring was momentous? What if the ring signified a deadly ending?” the creature screeched.

“Just give me the ring back,” Dash screamed and held out his left hand. “Why do you want it so badly?”

The creature turned her attention to Dash, as she moved to look at him, a huge gust expelled with the giant creature’s motion. 

“The half-ghost cannot find happiness now. It simply doesn’t align,” Fate said as it pointed to the tangled knot in the middle of the park. 

A thin red line of yarn extended out and wrapped around Dash’s ring finger on his free hand. It grew tight, near cutting off the circulation, and despite a grimace, Dash didn’t waver from looking at the creature, at least where her face should be.

“Are you the mean lady?” Dash asked.

“I am a weaver. The weak ghost that controls containers did seem to refer to me in such a way.”

“That tracks,” Jazz said.

“Well, either way, I’m not afraid of you, and I think Danny can find happiness whenever he damn well chooses,” Dash shouted.

“The line around your finger. You notice it does not protrude from the knot?”

Dash saw that the red strand was simply tangled somewhere deep inside and said, “Sure, so what?”

“If he were meant to say yes to you, the strand would extend to his finger as well,” Fate explained. “It does not, and as such, you are insufficient and will lead to a dangerous future.”

All the anger, and fear, and hope, and power that Dash had mustered drained from his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but it was impossible. There was something so final about what Fate said that even though there was no way to prove it, it was a revered truth.

“Dash…,” Jazz said, though even she was affected, the words holding on her heart, so brutal and cold.

Fate turned back to the knot of yarn, digging her fingers in and trying to undo the tangle. She was seemingly proud that she had completed her task, even easier than she’d expected. The ball of yarn slowly came apart, but a sharp sound, a scream, it made her pause.

“Hey you! We aren’t finished talking yet,” Dash screamed. “You think you can drop a bomb like that and then just go back to what you’re doing? Fat chance!”

In a blink, Fate was but an inch away, a bellow, “What more can I explain, human? What more could you possibly need to hear.”

“I don’t have to hear anything else, but I’ve got something to say.”

Jazz laughed, a little warmth returned. Fate turned to ‘look’ at her but quickly returned her attention to Dash.

“It doesn’t matter if your little string doesn’t line up, or wrap around his finger, or whatever. I’ll take out another loan, and I’ll get another ring. I’ll forgo the ring all together because Danny doesn’t need a ring to know that I love him. And hell, so I’m not the one he’s supposed to be with. I can deal with that, but what I can’t deal with is you saying he doesn’t deserve to be happy right now? What’s that about, huh? He deserves to be happy whenever he wants, wherever he can, and with whomever he chooses,” Dash said. “I don’t care if it’s with me or someone else, but I’m sure as hell not going to let you sit here and keep him from what he deserves.”

“Should he be happy now, he grows weak for an inevitability in the future,” Fate said.

“So what? Happiness doesn’t somehow diminish resolve. He’s a hero, and heroes deserve peace just like the rest of us,” Jazz shouted. “There’s always going to be something else in his way, but I know that Dash and me, and my parents, and Danny’s friends, we’re going to be there for him regardless.”

“So, you believe you can defy Fate herself?” Fate said as her head tilted to the side.

“I’m saying that I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Danny Fenton has a chance to be himself and be happy. I’ll do it just to spite you if I’ve gotta,” Dash said as his left arm extend again. “I’m tired of saying, but I’ll still say it one more time: Give me the damn ring back.”

Fate ignored Dash and looked up to the sky. Jazz followed her head to see Danny floating not far away. Fate made no motion to retaliate, and Danny didn’t move an inch.

“You’re fine with what you’ve heard, half-ghost?” Fate said, a long finger pointing up.

“I heard everything I needed to hear,” Danny said. “Now, let them go, and set free the ghosts you coerced for your plan.”

“What if this is all a huge mistake?” Fate asked, a ghastly chuckle following. “How do you know your truth?”

“I’ll risk it with them before I’d believe it from you,” Danny said, “because I know they support me, not to mention they have whatever it takes to deal with any problem head on. Now let my sister and boyfriend go!”

Fate raised her hands, the yarn untangling and slithering away behind her. Her form grew human size, the knot in front of her untangling itself and rolling into perfect balls of yarn. Fate turned her back to the three of them when Jazz, Dash, and Danny had their feet safely on the ground, the trees and grass and benches and fence no longer coiled with strands and strings.

“Thank you for letting them go,” Danny said.

“Sometimes Fate is kind, and other times cruel, and sometimes Fate simply needs to show how true a person can be,” she said, a slight cackle ringing from behind the veil of yarn.

“What does that mean?” Jazz asked.

“I’m a simple weaver, dear. A simple weaver that will take her leave.”

With a snap of her fingers, a whoosh of air, Fate disappeared, the only thing left was a small ring box and a ball of red yarn.

The three let out a collective sigh of relief. 

“So that’s Halloween, huh?” Dash asked.

“Yes,” Danny said. “Every year, something new.”

~~

It was 12:30am.

Danny instructed Tucker to do exactly as he said. He had a plan, and while not entirely rational, he thought it was exactly what needed to happen. In less than a few seconds, Tucker hacked into Dash’s phone.

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Tucker asked.

“It’s something, at least,” Danny said.

Sam entered the room with the news that Dash had been in the upstairs bathroom for quite a while. He’d barely said a word to anyone after they got home for yet another thrilling Halloween night.

“And you took care of the kitchen and dining room?” Danny asked.

“Yup, and Jazz handled all the bedrooms. Your mom and dad even did the ones in basement. Your dad tried to change the one for the ghost portal, but your mom told him it would cause a catastrophic failure. After a scolding, he gave up,” Sam said.

“I’ve got thirty minutes.”

Danny walked up the stairs, his friends and family looking on as he did. He nodded to them as he got to the landing on the second floor. He rounded the corner to the bathroom, and he tried the knob.

“Occupied,” Dash said through the door.

“It’s me. Can we talk?”

“I’m a little busy sulking right now.”

“I’ll come through the door if I have to,” Danny said with a little laugh.

“That’s not fair, and you know it,” Dash shouted.

A few moments later, Danny heard the lock click, and then some footsteps trudged away from the door. He was cautious, but he turned the knob and pushed the door open. Dash was sitting on the edge of the tub, the ring box opened on the counter in front of him. Dash looked up, but then he immediately looked away.

“Can I ask why you’re sulking in the bathroom?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know. Tonight wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“Halloween never is, and it won’t be for the rest of your life.”

Dash looked up at Danny, a little confused. Danny crossed the room and sat down next to Dash. He looked over at the ring and gave a wide smile. It was the first time he got to see it, and while the mystique was certainly a little diminished, he let Dash know that he thought it was lovely. Dash bumped him slightly.

“I figured out why I was mad at you. It took me a bit,” Danny said.

“I know, you told me. Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I had second thoughts while sitting in the bathroom.”

A sudden realization, a week ago, before he asked so casually. Dash didn’t suddenly have to use the restroom. He was looking at the ring and thinking it over.

“Why didn’t you just do it?” Danny asked.

“You seemed unsure, and then I got unsure, and it really hasn’t been that long. I know that I know that it’s how I feel, but you didn’t seem to know, and I didn’t want to put all that pressure on you. Then I went and just made it worse.”

“That’s why I was mad. I realized I wanted you to ask me, but certainly not like that. It didn’t need to be a grand, romantic gesture, but I would have liked something a little more formal than turning off the alarm and rolling over.”

They both laughed, Danny’s fingers threading through Dash’s. 

“You really fought hard tonight, and all for me,” Danny said.

“Of course! Absolutely,” Dash perked up. “I wanted to give you a special Halloween. Something you could look back on and feel happy about, but I couldn’t make it happen in time. A proposal on November 1st just doesn’t seem as appropriate, you know?”

Danny reached into Dash’s pocket, a little protest on Dash’s part. When Danny produced Dash’s phone, he told him to unlock it. When Dash questioned why, Danny just told him to do it. 

His finger zipping across the screen, the internal clock showed 11:45pm.

“But it’s after midnight,” Dash said.

“Says who? It looks like it’s 11:45 to me,” Danny said. He opened his phone to reveal the same time.

Dash stood up, took the ring and left the bathroom. Danny followed after him, a proud grin stretched from ear to ear.

Dash checked the bedrooms, the alarm clocks reading 11:47pm now. He walked downstairs, and the mantle clock said 11:50, and the clock over the stove 11:51 by the time he got there. When he returned to the sitting room, Danny was standing in the middle. It was quiet, though Dash knew Tucker, Sam, Jazz, Maddie, and Jack were probably hidden somewhere close by.

“You can check every clock, but by my count, you’ve got about five minutes till midnight. I had Tucker hack your phone, and everyone pitched in to set the clocks back.”

Dash got a little closer.

“I know what Fate said, but I’m not worried. I can tell you, wholeheartedly, that someone in this room is very ready to say yes if someone else in this room is ready to ask a particular question,” Danny said. “I’m pretty stoked to have a happy memory on Halloween, but you better hurry.”

Dash got down on one knee. He fiddled with the ring box but finally got it open.

“Hey, Fenton,” Dash said.

Laughing, “Yeah, Dash?”

“You wanna marry me?”

“I’d be okay with that,” Danny said.

The clocks read 11:59pm. It was just in time for a happy ending.

~~

The sun came up and crept through the windows of Danny’s room. Danny stirred, his hand dragged across Dash’s chest. Dash was a heater, but that worked for Danny since he was cold so often. 

Dash’s arm was snug around his waist, Danny’s hips wiggling slightly to get in a better position. Dash let out a slight moan as he readjusted as well, too asleep and running purely on instinct and affection. He pulled Danny in, his breath warm on the back of Danny’s neck. Danny decided another thirty minutes would be good after the long day they had yesterday.

Just one quick look. He raised his hand to admire the ring Dash had given him, and he saw it, perfectly clear, wrapped around his finger a strand of red yarn, the same that they picked up after dealing with Fate. He followed the line, and the yarn traced to Dash’s hand, a perfect bow tied around his finger. Danny couldn’t explain it, but he’d experience weirder things. For now he’d just believe it was Fate approving of something he had no conception of, that now was a good time to just let Dash squeeze him and to take in leftover smell of his cologne.

Danny didn’t need the yarn to know he’d made the right choice, but there was comfort in it.

~~

Jazz put the ball of red yarn as far back in her closet as she possibly could. Taking quiet steps down the stairs, she returned the cooking shears to their place in the utensil holder. Deep down, she knew it didn’t matter. She loved what Dash had said, and the man that he’d become, and he was totally right. Danny deserved any happiness that he wanted, and he chose Dash. No, they chose each other.

Jazz thought of it as helping Fate correct a small miscalculation, and no one needed to be the wiser.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked, arms crossed and in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Jazz said innocently. “I’m just starting breakfast for everyone. 

Sam’s right eyebrow piqued, she nodded unbelieving, but it didn’t stop her from grabbing the eggs from the fridge and helping Jazz with breakfast preparations.

~~

“Hey, Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Danny.”


End file.
